Out On the Town: D.C. arts and entertainment highlights — August 15-21

Everything arts and entertainment in the D.C. area this week!

FILM

BEST IN SHOW

NoMa Summer Screen, the free screening series organized by the NoMa B.I.D., concludes its 12th season with arguably one of the funniest and sharpest entries from Christopher Guest’s canon of mockumentaries. Best In Show is filled with stellar performances, including Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock as the Swans, a Starbucks-minted neurotic couple; Fred Willard as an imbecilic, everyman TV co-host for the fictionalized Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show; and Jennifer Coolidge and Jane Lynch as not-quite-secret lovers, connected by standard poodle Rhapsody in White. The screening is presented in a grassy block in this still-developing neighborhood a few blocks north of Union Station. Patrons are welcome to bring their dogs — provided they keep them on leashes. Ooh Dat Chicken, Swizzler, and Westray’s Finest are among the food trucks expected to be on hand. Wednesday, Aug. 21 at sunset (or 7:54 p.m.) 1150 1st St. NE, at the corner with Pierce St. Call 202-289-0111 or visit www.nomabid.org/summerscreen.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Rami Malek’s stunning performance as Freddie Mercury — which justifiably earned him the Best Actor Oscar this year — drives Bohemian Rhapsody, Bryan Singer’s music biopic about the legendary rock band Queen and its equally iconic lead singer. On stage, Malek works every inch of the platform, conveying Mercury’s swagger, his confidence, and his sexuality. Off-stage, he delivers Mercury’s development from shy but talented singer to world-conquering star — one enveloped in his own confidence and absolutely sure of what he deserves. Dcenes where the band is rocking out in front of audiences across the world thrill and delight in equal measure. Bohemian Rhapsody screens as the concluding film in the free Capitol Riverfront series organized by the area’s BID. Screening, with captioning, starts at sundown, approximately 8:30 p.m., but the lawn opens at 7 p.m. for picnickers and those seeking premium spots. Wednesday, Aug. 22. Canal Park at 2nd and K Streets SE. Visit www.capitolriverfront.org. (Rhuaridh Marr)

DISNEY’S THE LITTLE MERMAID

The AFI Silver Theatre co-presents a free summer outdoor film series at nearby Sonny’s Green, where patrons can bring blankets and low-rise chairs as well as their own food and beverages. The series continues on Friday, Aug. 16, with the animated classic that ushered in the Disney Renaissance of the 1990s. Based on the short story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and features an Oscar-winning score by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The screening begins at sundown, around 8 p.m. Off the parking lot of the Blairs Shopping Center, 1290 East-West Highway. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON

Al Pacino is extraordinary as Sonny Wortzik, an amateur crook who robs a bank to pay for his partner’s sex-change surgery, in Sidney Lumet’s gritty drama. The film subtly challenged social prejudices against the LGBTQ community, to the extent it was included in the third installment of Metro Weekly‘s 25 Gay Films Everyone Should See in 2013. The 1975 film returns to the big screen as part of the Capital Classics series at Landmark’s West End Cinema. Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 1:30, 4:30, and 7:30 p.m. 2301 M St. NW. Happy hour from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50. Call 202-534-1907 or visit www.landmarktheatres.com.

GLORY

After last month’s special 30th anniversary screenings, Edward Zwick’s sweeping Civil War epic returns to the big screen once more as part of the summer-long series at AFI’s Silver Theatre devoted to films featuring this year’s AFI Life Achievement Award recipient, Denzel Washington. Glory, in fact, earned Washington his first Oscar. Called “one of the finest historical dramas ever made” by film critic Leonard Malton, the underrated epic also starred Matthew Broderick, Morgan Freeman, Cary Elwes, and Andre Braugher. Sunday, Aug. 18, at 5:30 p.m. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $11 to $13. Call 301-495-6720 or visit www.afi.com/Silver.

More sweet than bitter — though assuredly bitter and brutal in its violence — Quentin Tarantino’s latest might encapsulate every aspect of the filmmaker’s disdain for a certain new culture in Hollywood. The movie proves, yet again, that the director of Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds knows how to make a picture big, without the aid of comic book superheroes or CGI behemoths. The film’s primary special effects are its gorgeous widescreen presentation, and the one-two punch of a pair of Hollywood’s biggest movie stars, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Set in the tumultuous year of 1969, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is nothing if not an exhaustive, immersive dip into the sun-kissed pool of movie people in the waning days of a golden age. Tarantino offers a fascinating, radio and pop culture-soaked paean to the Sixties, and a fairy tale vision of a changing of the guard. Like most fairy tales, it’s also soaked in blood and death, but offers some glimpse of a happily ever after. Now playing. Area theaters. Visit www.fandango.com. (André Hereford)

SING-A-LONG SOUND OF MUSIC

Even if you’ve never been to a sing-a-long before, you know what it’s all about. It’s fun. And camp. And we’re betting you even know the words to all the songs from the classic movie musical, from “My Favorite Things” to “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” to “Edelweiss.” If you’re a bit rusty, though, rest assured the lyrics will be shown as part of the movie on Wolf Trap’s huge screen. The outing includes a Sound of Music-inspired costume contest prior to the screening — expect lots of Lederhosen and veils — plus, thankfully, a 15-minute intermission during Robert Wise’s nearly three-hour-long film. Saturday, Aug. 24. Gates at 5:45 p.m. The Filene Center, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $25 to $45. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

STRANGER BY THE LAKE

After winning the Queer Palm, the top LGBTQ award, during its 2013 premiere at Cannes, Stranger By The Lake went on to critical acclaim, with Time Out New York calling Alain Guiraudie’s erotic thriller “mesmerizing” and “a queer cinema landmark.” Set in and around a nudist beach and gay cruising area in rural France, the story centers on Frank and his sexual attraction to the darkly mysterious Michel. Their relationship deepens but also becomes darker and more dire as a result of a murder investigation into another man’s drowning. Part of the August Screen Queen series at the cozy Suns Cinema in Mount Pleasant. Monday, Aug. 19, at 8 p.m. 3107 Mount Pleasant St. NW. Tickets are $11.49 including service fee. Visit www.sunscinema.com.

Dear Evan Hansen — Photo: Matthew-Murphy

STAGE

AS YOU LIKE IT

Founded shortly after World War II, National Players has helped launch the careers of numerous stage and performance artists. This summer, the organization, touted as “America’s longest-running touring company,” debuts the productions for its 71st season in pay-what-you-can-previews at Olney Theatre. This weekend, a 10-person ensemble brings to life Shakespeare’s imaginative tale about city folk venturing into the woods with the classic romantic comedy As You Like It, directed by the company’s Jason King Jones. In mid-September, the Players stage The Diary of Anne Frank. Friday, Aug. 16, and Saturday, Aug. 17, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 18, at 1:30 p.m. 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. PWYC tickets are available only at the box office on the day of performances. Call 301-924-3400 or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

ASSASSINS

To kick off Signature Theatre’s 30th season, Eric Schaeffer returns to a show that became the company’s second Sondheim musical (after Sweeney Todd), when Schaeffer directed it 27 years ago. The Tony-winning Assassins twists the American Dream by focusing on nine people from history who tried or succeeded in offing a president. For the cast, Schaeffer tapped a crew of veteran performers with the company, including Christopher Bloch, Kurt Boehm, Evan Casey, Vincent Kempski, Sam Ludwig, Ian McEuen, Tracy Lynn Olivera, Lawrence Redmond, Bobby Smith, Rachel Zampelli, Jimmy Mavrikes, Nova Y. Payton, and Maria Rizzo. In previews, opens Wednesday, Aug. 21. Runs to Sept. 29. MAX Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Call 703-820-9771 or visit www.sigtheatre.org.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

If you missed it when it started its life at Arena Stage four years ago, the Tony Award-winning masterpiece from the hit stage and screen songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul returns to the area as part of its first national tour. Michael Greif directs the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary tale, featuring a book by Steven Levenson, about the power and overpowering effects of social media and social standing. To Sept. 8. Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater. Tickets are $79 to $175. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

LEGALLY BLONDE

Dupont Circle’s Keegan Theatre closes out its 22nd season with the stage adaptation of the hit movie, based on Amanda Brown’s novel about effervescent Elle Woods and her journey to Harvard. Ricky Drummond helms Keegan’s production of the show, featuring music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Neil Benjamin, aided by music director Walter “Bobby” McCoy and choreographer Ashleigh King. To Sept. 1. Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Tickets are $52 to $62. Call 202-265-3767 or visit www.keegantheatre.com.

THE CAT IN THE HAT

A rainy day is turned into a miraculous, mayhem-filled adventure in an adaptation of the Dr. Seuss classic imported from across the pond, via the National Theatre of Great Britain. The theater for young audiences production out at Adventure Theatre-MTC in Glen Echo Park is directed by Adam Immerwahr, who has become known for works that are far more serious and adult in his day job as the artistic director of Theater J. Surely The Cat in the Hat is a nice change of pace, maybe even allowing him, to paraphrase from the late Mr. Geisel’s book, “good fun that is funny.” To Aug. 18. 7300 MacArthur Blvd. Call 301-634-2270 or visit www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org.

The War Boys — Photo: Ryan Maxwell

THE WAR BOYS

Ally Theatre Company, focused on presenting works or partnering with organizations that acknowledge and confront systemic oppression in America, launches its third season with a timely drama from Naomi Wallace about three vigilantes, childhood friends who enjoy spending their time patrolling the U.S./Mexican border. In time, they gain a fuller, more complicated picture of border security and what it means to be an American in a work that features a warning akin to an R-rated movie: “This play contains adult content including acts of violence, sexual assault, guns, partial nudity, xenophobic, homophobic, and misogynist language.” Matt Ripa, the artistic director of the DC Queer Theatre Festival, directs a cast featuring Jhonny Maldonado, Robert Pike, and Eli Pendry. To Aug. 31. Joe’s Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Road, Mount Rainier, Md. Tickets are $15 to $20. Call 301-699-1819 or visit www.alltheatrecompany.com.

TIGER STYLE!

Described as an outrageous and cutting satire of Asian-American identity, Mike Lew’s latest work closes out the current season at Olney Theatre Center in a production helmed by Helen Hayes Award-winning director Natsu Onoda Power. Regina Aquino and Sean Sekino will star as third-generation Chinese-Americans, affluent Millennial siblings who face something of a late-adolescent identity crisis that leads them to try their hand at living in the motherland. Eileen Rivera as their mother and Michael Glenn as the show’s sole non-Asian actor playing a host of characters complete the cast. To Aug. 18. Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. Call 301-924-3400 or visit www.olneytheatre.org.

TREASURE ISLAND

Virginia’s Synetic closes out its season with a high seas adventure full of pirates. The original adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel of the same name is the latest caper from a physical theater-focused company that’s made its name producing wordless variations on classics, particularly those by Shakespeare. Synetic’s impressive crew of athletic actors will bring to life the coming-of-age tale focused on the orphan Jane Hawkins and a ruthless band of buccaneers on a wild hunt for buried treasure. To Aug. 18. 1800 South Bell St., Arlington. Tickets are $35 to $60. Call 800-811-4111 or visit www.synetictheater.org.

Luther-Re-lives

MUSIC

AMANDA SHIRES

After mastering her craft playing fiddle with the Texas Playboys, this singer-songwriter has gone on to tour and record with artists including John Prine, Justin Townes Earle, Ryan Adams, Lee Ann Womack, and her husband Jason Isbell. In 2017, Shires was honored with the Emerging Artist Award by the Americana Association. Part of the new country supergroup The Highwomen along with Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hernby, Shires is currently touring in support of her most recent solo set, 2018’s To The Sunset. Saturday, Aug. 17. Doors at 6:30 p.m. The Hamilton, 600 14th St. NW. Tickets are $30 to $60. Call 202-787-1000 or visit www.thehamiltondc.com.

BANDHOUSE GIGS CELEBRATES WOODSTOCK’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

A wide array of talented pop/folk vocalists from around the area are brought together to perform a concert celebrating Woodstock and the legendary musicians who took part, including Jimi Hendrix, Santana, The Band, Sly & The Family Stone, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Who, the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplance, and Janis Joplin, among others. Presented by the production company Newmyer Flyer, the concert features Last Train Home, In Gratitude with Dennis Chambers, The Bumber Jacksons Duo, Jon Carroll, The Nighthawks, Patty Reese, Tommy Lepson, Mike McHenry, Margot MacDonald, and The Thrillbillies. Saturday, Aug. 17, at 8 p.m. Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. Tickets are $23 to $43. Call 202-783-4000 or visit www.warnertheatredc.com.

BECK

He burst onto the scene with what some called an anthem for the slacker generation, yet as a working musician, Beck Hansen — who goes simply by his first name — has been anything but a slacker. He’s been one of the most prolific musicians over the past 25 years, having produced a studio album at least every other year. And the seven-time Grammy winner has also successfully experimented with a divergent range of musical styles on his albums, from folk to hard rock, hip hop to electronic dance music. In advance of his forthcoming 14th album Hyperspace, Beck co-headlines a tour with the Kentucky-rooted psychedelic/garage rock band Cage the Elephant. Something of a mini-festival, the Night Running Tour also features opening sets from Texas-based indie-rock stalwarts Spoon and New York’s jangly indie-pop trio Sunflower Bean. Thursday, Aug. 22. Gates at 5 p.m. Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway, Columbia, Md. Tickets are $29.50 to $200.50. Call 800-551-SEAT or visit www.merriweathermusic.com.

Brittany Howard

BRITTANY HOWARD

The soul-rattling Alabama Shakes singer is currently on a break from the hit Southern blues-rock band she leads in order to set out on a new, far more personal chapter of her career. Howard tours in advance of her upcoming solo debut Jaime, which gets personal in ways she barely even hinted at previously. For example, there’s the ballad “Georgia,” which she told Rolling Stone is “about being a little gay black girl and having a crush on an older black girl.” The 30-year-old Howard takes the spotlight for two intimate nights at the 9:30 Club with opening act Thelma and the Sleaze. Friday, Aug. 23, and Saturday, Aug. 24. Doors at 8 p.m. 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $55. Call 202-265-0930 or visit www.930.com.

CREATIVE CAULDRON’S SUMMER CABARET SERIES

The 10th annual summer cabaret series at ArtSpace Falls Church continues with “You Are My Heroine” featuring the Brooklyn-based songwriting duo of Bridget Linsenmeyer and Inés Nassarra, who will sing original songs as well as covers by their favorite fellow female artists, on Friday, Aug. 16, “Tell Me A Story,” an evening of story songs performed by Katherine Riddle on Saturday, Aug. 17, and “Bossa Fever” with the acclaimed local chilled-out jazz ensemble Veronneau on Friday, Aug. 23, and Saturday, Aug. 24. All shows at 8 p.m. Series runs to Sept. 14. 410 South Maple Ave. in Falls Church. Tickets are $18 to $22 per show, or $60 for a table for two with wine and $120 for four with wine. Call 703-436-9948 or visit www.creativecauldron.org.

DC MUSIC ROCKS FESTIVAL

Some of the city’s best and best-known music acts from various genres take the stage at the 9:30 Club this weekend as part of this third annual event, presented by the syndicated FM radio show, podcast, and website DC Music Rocks in collaboration with Girls Rock! DC. The lineup includes Los Empresarios, the all-girl groups More AM Than FM and Iza Flo, the Eli Lev Collective with special guest Jarreau Williams, and Sub-Radio, plus singer-songwriters Daniel Warren-Hill, Jahnel Daliya, Jasmine Gillison, Gabrielle Ziwi, Lauren Calve, and Karen Jones. A portion of the concert’s proceeds benefits The Musicianship, recognized by DC Public Schools as an official After-School provider, one offering music lessons and opportunities particularly for at-risk and underprivileged populations. And The Musicianship’s drumline program is also set to perform. Saturday, Aug. 17. Doors at 7 p.m. 9:30 Club, 815 V St. NW. Tickets are $15. Call 202-265-0930 or visit www.930.com.

HOT AUGUST MUSIC FESTIVAL

Pigeons Playing Ping Pong, Turkuaz, Billy Strings, and Melvin Seals & JGB are the headliners across the three stages at this folk and bluegrass festival, now in its 27th year. Other acts set to perform include Samantha Fish, Cedric Burnside, the Lil Smokies, the Dirty Grass Players, Larry McCray, Travers Brothership, Vanessa Collier, and the Old Part of Town. Saturday, Aug. 17. Gates at 11 a.m. Tickets are $68 in advance, $87 the day of, or $199 for VIP including parking, alcohol, two meal tickets, special viewing area, and special restrooms. Oregon Ridge Park, 13401 Beaver Dam Rd. in Cockeysville, Md. Call 877-321-FEST or visit www.hotaugustmusicfestival.com.

INTEGRITI REEVES

Celebrated local jazz vocalist, composer, and educator leads her ensemble in a mix of jazz standards, Brazilian music, and original compositions, and all as part of the Kennedy Center’s free nightly programming. Friday, Aug. 16, at 6 p.m. Millennium Stage. Call 202-467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

The nine-time Grammy-winning jazz icon Marsalis will be joined by 15 soloists, ensemble players, and arrangers for a swinging evening under the stars. Friday, Aug. 16, at 8 p.m. The Filene Center at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna. Tickets are $30 to $125. Call 877-WOLFTRAP or visit www.wolftrap.org.

JAZZ IN THE GARDEN: DIXIE POWER TRIO, FUNKY DAWGZ BRASS BAND

A summertime staple, the National Gallery of Art offers free outdoor concerts immediately after work every Friday through late August. Bands offering a range of jazz styles, from swing to Latin to ska, perform amidst the museum’s collection of large-scale sculptural works while patrons enjoy food and drinks, including beer, wine, and sangria, as sold by the Pavilion Café. New menu items for 2019 include the popular vegetarian Teriyaki Impossible Burger, a Bahn Mi Turkey Burger with ginger soy aioli, and more traditional sandwiches of pulled pork and beef brisket, all available at grill stations throughout the Sculpture Garden. The series continues with the Dixie Power Trio, a New Orleans-centric jazz ensemble sometimes referred to as the “East Coast’s premier Louisiana variety band,” on Aug. 16, and then concludes with the Connecticut-based seven-piece funk and hip-hop group Funky Dawgz Brass Band on Aug. 23. Evenings from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Sculpture Garden, between 7th and 9th Streets NW. Call 202-289-3360 or visit www.nga.gov.

LUTHER RE-LIVES

It takes some smooth crooning to come close to the vocal greatness that was Grammy-winning R&B legend Luther Vandross. But William “Smooth” Wardlaw comes close enough to live up to his billing as the featured voice of the concert experience he’s fronted for nearly a decade. “We try not to say tribute or impersonation,” Wardlaw told Metro Weekly. “That’s why we’re called ‘Luther Re-Lives,’ because we want people to relive those moments when Luther was onstage.” The Alexandria native relives his own love for Luther’s music and vocal prowess by performing the artist’s songs, accompanied by two backup singers and a five-piece band. The show is a full, Vegas-style performance that Wardlaw says aims to recapture not just the sublime musical effect of Luther live, but also “the flamboyance, the lighting, the wardrobe.” Friday, Aug. 16. Doors at 6:30 p.m. City Winery DC, 1350 Okie St. NE. Tickets are $35 to $45. Call 202-250-2531 or visit www.citywinery.com. (AH)

Rufus Wainright

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

There’s a sizable cadre of young, queer artists singing openly and honestly about their experiences in today’s landscape — but it was a different story 20 years ago, when Rufus Wainwright launched his career. The son of folk-rock legends Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, the singer-songwriter returns to the Birchmere for an intimate concert, dubbed “Oh Solo Wainwright,” with an opening set from another legacy folk-rock act — The Rails, the London-based husband-and-wife duo of James Walbourne (a member of The Pretenders) and Kami Thompson, daughter of Richard and Linda and sister to Teddy. Thursday, Aug. 22, at 7:30 p.m. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. Tickets are $89.50. Call 703-549-7500 or visit www.birchmere.com.

STRANGELOVE: THE DEPECHE MODE EXPERIENCE

Leo Luganskiy leads this L.A.-based act that, for nearly a decade now, has performed “lovingly recreated” classics by the pioneering English synth/rock band, and staged with set pieces, costume changes, and multimedia projections reflecting on the different eras of the band. All told, the show is meant to be less a tribute show and more “a shared communal fan club celebration of halcyon days of new wave and emerging electronica.” Musicians Brent Meyer as “Counterfeit Martin,” Julian Shah-Tayler as “Oscar Wilder,” and James Evans as “InTheFletch” round out the cover band. And before Strangelove comes a performance by Caligula Blushed, a tribute band to The Smiths. Saturday, Aug. 17, at 8 p.m. Fillmore Silver Spring, 8656 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. Tickets are $15.50 before taxes. Call 301-960-9999 or visit www.fillmoresilverspring.com.

STRATHMORE’S LIVE FROM THE LAWN: UKEFEST FINALE

Grammy Award-winning folk musicians Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, partners in music and life, are now wrapping up the 11th edition of their popular annual festival at Strathmore devoted to the signature Hawaiian stringed instrument the ukulele. Things wind down — or really up — with the free outdoor UkeFest Finale concert that includes a mass strum-along. The concert comes as part of the Strathmore mansion’s free weekly summer series. Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. Gudelsky Gazebo, 10701 Rockville Pike, North Bethesda. Call 301-581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

National Gallery of Art Washington — The Life of Animals in Japanese Art

ART & EXHIBITS

A MONUMENT TO SHAKESPEARE

A temporary exhibition highlighting how Henry Clay Folger and his wife Emily Folger set out to create their shrine to the Bard as a gift, in 1932, to the American people — examining the Folger Shakespeare Library’s architecture and looking to its future. To Jan. 5. 201 East Capitol St. SE. Call 202-544-7077 or visit www.folger.edu.

CONTRAST

Maryland’s visual arts gallery Pyramid Atlantic presents an inky and dark-hued show featuring the diverse artworks of three contemporary printmakers working in the intaglio style, which is the opposite of a relief print and most commonly seen today via paper or plastic currency, passports, and postage stamps. To develop his intaglio prints, New York’s Curt Belshe starts by taking photographs of figures that he then digitally sculpts in 3D software before exposing the images to light-sensitive plates and creating etchings. Meanwhile, Jake Muirhead prints from hand-drawn etching into copper plates and his fellow Maryland-based artist Jenny Freestone works in a mix of styles including drypoint, etching, and gravure. When considered collectively, the prints on display from the three artists have “a velvety and mysterious quality.” To Aug. 18. 4318 Gallatin St., Hyattsville, Md. Call 301-608-9101 or visit www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org.

DINOROARS

Right now, dinosaurs are in motion and causing a commotion of sorts at the National Zoo — but in as harmless and science-lite a way, and as far from Jurassic Park, as possible. Although they can move, roar, and even spit water, the six prehistoric creatures roaming the Smithsonian park’s central Olmsted Walk are essentially toys — animatronic replicas of everything from a baby stegosaurus to a 13-foot-tall, 39-foot-long T-Rex. An additional attraction is “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo Live,” a 30-minute show in which a team of skilled performers and puppeteers bring to life a collection of “lifelike dinosaurs” touted as providing “visual oomph to rival The Lion King.” Multiple shows daily, except Mondays. To Aug. 31. 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. Zoo entry is free; tickets to “Erth’s Dinosaur Zoo” are $8 to $10. Call 202-633-4888 or visit www.nationalzoo.si.edu.

EYE TO I: SELF-PORTRAITS FROM 1900 TO TODAY

Despite its title, this is not an exhibition celebrating the everyday selfie but rather notable, high-quality self-portraits from American artists drawn primarily from the National Portrait Gallery’s vast collection — and the concluding exhibition in the Smithsonian museum’s series celebrating its 50th anniversary. Elaine de Kooning, Edward Hopper, Jacob Lawrence, Diego Rivera, Roger Shimomura, and Martin Wong are among the artists represented in this display of more than 75 works examining the range of ways artists have chosen to portray themselves. Through Aug. 18. 8th and F Streets. NW. Call 202-633-8300 or visit www.npg.si.edu.

HABITATS

“What makes a habitat a home?” That was the question that guided artists as they created new works for the latest group exhibition in Target Gallery, the contemporary exhibitions space of Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory Art Center. Ellyn Weiss, a D.C.-based independent artist and curator served as the show’s juror, ultimately selecting 22 works by artists working across the U.S. and in a diversity of media, from sculpture and photography to video and virtual reality. The six area artists with works in the show are Ceci Cole McInturff and Nancy Ramsey of Alexandria, Delna Dastur of McLean, Kamille Jackson of Woodbridge, Pam Eichner of Silver Spring, and Alice Fornari of D.C. Now to Sept. 22. 105 North Union St. Alexandria. Free. Call 703-838-4565 or visit www.torpedofactory.org.

Nearly 50 photographs and ephemera from the Life Magazine artist known for capturing larger-than-life personalities and those among the most notable people of the 20th century — from Marilyn Monroe to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. This special exhibition at Hillwood explores the relationship that evolved over the course of photo sessions between Eisenstaedt and Hillwood founder Marjorie Merriweather Post. Concurrently, on the second floor of the mansion, Hillwood features a special display celebrating Adelaide Close Riggs, the eldest of Post’s three daughters, in recognition of her dedication and contributions to the museum as well as the 20th anniversary of her passing. To Jan. 12. 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Suggested donation is $18. Call 202-686-5807 or visit www.HillwoodMuseum.org.

OUTBREAKS: EPIDEMICS IN A CONNECTED WORLD

To mark the 100th anniversary of the Great Influenza, the Smithsonian debuts an exhibition on epidemiology and human health. From HIV to SARS to Ebola, Outbreaks shows how viruses can spread from animals to people, why some infectious diseases become pandemics, and the collaborative ways many have been stopped or curtailed. Today, pandemic diseases remain one of the greatest threats to individuals and society, due to an increasingly interconnected, increasingly mobile, increasingly urbanized and industrialized global world. Ongoing to 2021. National Museum of Natural History, 10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Call 202-633-1000 or visit mnh.si.edu.

QUEER AS GERMAN FOLK: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF TRANSATLANTIC RAINBOW FRIENDSHIP

The Goethe-Institut Washington and the DC Center for the LGBT Community have teamed up for a joint, two-part exploratory exhibition featuring a hands-on deconstructed archive that visitors can browse at their own pace and according to their own interests. The archive includes materials drawn from the Schwules Museum Berlin as well as D.C.-based archives and partner resources such as the Rainbow History Project, Whitman-Walker Health, local photographer Elvert Barnes, and the DC Public Library. The similarities and differences in the push for LGBTQ equality in both capitals will be highlighted. To Aug. 23. Goethe-Institut/German Cultural Center, 1990 K St. NW. Ste. 03. Also The DC Center, 2000 14th St. NW. Ste. 105. Free. Visit www.goethe.de/washington and www.thedccenter.org.

REFIK ANADOL: INFINITE SPACE

D.C.’s technology-focused art gallery ArTecHouse presents the first major retrospective of Refik Anadol, a thoroughly 21st-century-focused artist who uses data and computerized networks to create radical visualizations of our digitized memories, expanding the possibilities of architecture, narrative, and the movement. Through site-specific, parametric data sculptures and immersive installations, the L.A.-based Turkish artist helps rethink the physical world, our relationship to time and space, and the creative potential where humans and machines interact. The exhibition’s title derives from an infamous, internationally touring immersive installation featuring three infinity boxes and a selection of multimedia works spanning Anadol’s career. To Sept. 2. ArTecHouse, 1238 Maryland Ave. SW. Tickets are $13 to $20, with “after hours” sessions featuring a bar with exhibition-related Augmented Reality cocktails. visit www.artechouse.com.

SECTION 14: THE OTHER PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA

Before it became a gay desert mecca and a resort for the rich and famous, Palm Springs was a desert outpost — as well as home to the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation. The National Museum of the American Indian shines a light on a land battle in Palm Springs, yet another in a long string of conflicts between western expansion and Indigenous peoples’ rights. The focus is on Section 14, a one-square-mile tract in downtown Palm Springs that forms the heart of the reservation. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians created the exhibition, which was organized by the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum. On display through Jan. 2020. National Museum of the American Indian, Independence Avenue at 4th Street SW. Call 202-633-1000 or visit www.nmai.si.edu.

SUMMER INTERLUDE: A CELEBRATION OF COLOR

For its summer exhibition, Georgetown’s contemporary art gallery Calloway Fine Arts presents “bold and bright” large, abstract paintings on canvas by David Bell, Leslie Nolan, and Karen Silve, plus smaller works on paper from Matthew Langley’s A Painting A Day series, which pull highlights of color from the larger works. To Aug. 24. 1643 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Call 202-965-4601 or visit www.callowayart.com.

THE LIFE OF ANIMALS IN JAPANESE ART

This major exhibition at the National Gallery of Art covers 17 centuries of animal-inspired art — from the 5th century to the present — and across a wide variety of media, everything from sculpture to painting, ceramics to textiles, metalwork to woodblock print. In total, the exhibit includes more than 300 works spread across 18,000 square feet. Artists represented include Sesson Shūkei, Katshushika Hokusai, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Kusama Yayoi, Issey Miyake, Nara Yoshitomo, and Murakami Takashi. To Aug. 18, with the exhibit staying open until 8 p.m. every night to recover hours lost during the partial government shutdown and inclement weather, but also to showcase a rotating group of light-sensitive objects. Concourse Galleries in the East Building, 3rd Street at Constitution Avenue NW. Call 202-737-4215 or visit www.nga.gov.

THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS: STORIES OF GLOBAL DISPLACEMENT

Works posing urgent questions about the experiences and perceptions of migration and the current global refugee crisis are the focus of a special summer exhibition at the Phillips Collection. Organized in partnership with the New Museum in New York, The Warmth of Other Suns presents 75 historical and contemporary artists, from the U.S. and all over the world, who have reconstructed personal and collective tales of migration via art installations, videos, paintings, and documentary images. The exhibition brings together a multitude of voices and exposes the universality of migration as an experience shared by many. That includes the more than six million African Americans whose exodus from the American South during the Jim Crow era is depicted in Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series, a cornerstone of the permanent collection at the Phillips. To Sept. 22. 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets are $10 to $12. Call 202-387-2151 x247 or visit www.phillipscollection.org.

THERE ARE NO SHADOWS HERE: THE PERFECT MOMENT AT 30

Thirty years after Robert Mapplethorpe: The Perfect Moment, the Washington Project for the Arts celebrates the anniversary of that iconically controversial exhibit by inviting acclaimed artist Tiona Nekkia McClodden to curate a program of fresh exploration into The Perfect Moment. The exhibit, featuring the work of photographers D’Angelo Lovell Williams and George Dureau and including presentations by Alex Fialho, Oluremi C Onabanjo, Mia Kang, and McClodden, is no tribute. “It’s more of a critical inquiry, or a critical read, of not only The Perfect Moment exhibit, but more so what it meant at the time for WPA to, quote-unquote, rescue the works after the Corcoran’s cancellation of the show,” McClodden says. “People may or may not be disappointed by the fact that I’m not really centering this on Mapplethorpe at all.” There Are No Shadows Here: The Perfect Moment at 30 focuses on elements and concepts found in Mapplethorpe’s Moment, “but looking at what’s happening on the periphery of this moment with other photographers — primarily black photographers, as well as photographers that precede and come after Mapplethorpe.” On display through Saturday, Aug. 17. 2124 8th St. NW. Visit www.wpadc.org. (André Hereford)

Truckeroo

FOOD & DRINK

PEPINO POP-UP AT COTTON & REED

Cotton & Reed, the rum distillery and tasting room in the Union Market District, plays host to a special culinary pop-up over the next month from Christian Irabién, the Mexican-born, D.C.-based chef who spent years working with José Andres and his Mexican outpost Oyamel. Pepino is designed as a preview of Amparo (www.amparofondita.com), Irabién’s forthcoming contemporary Mexican restaurant that is set to open this fall as part of the new Latin marketplace La Cosecha. The pop-up features six special ceviches (priced at $7 to $16 each). Meanwhile, Cotton & Reed complements Irabién’s menu with “Prickled Pink,” a specially concocted slushie consisting of white rum, mezcal, prickly pear, and lime ($12). To Aug. 18. Pepino is open from noon to 8 p.m. on weekends and 4 to 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays. 1330 5th St. NE. Call 202-544-2805 or visit www.facebook.com/cotton.and.reed.

SUMMER RESTAURANT WEEK

Area restaurants are currently immersed in this year’s Summer Restaurant Week, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington’s biannual promotion at over 250 restaurants. On offer are multi-course meals at dinner for $35 as well as fixed-price options at lunch or brunch for $22. “Looking at the range of restaurants participating, you have this nice, inclusive grouping,” says RAMW’s President Kathy Hollinger. “[It’s an] intersection of diners’ favorites from over the years [with] brand-new restaurants. It gives a diner an opportunity to look across the region at all of these developing and emerging neighborhoods and to pick from a variety of restaurants.” Now to Sunday, Aug. 18. For more information, including exclusive deals on meals as well as prizes through RAMW’s Diner Rewards Program, or to make reservations, visit www.rwdmv.com.

TRUCKEROO

Held one Friday a month from April through September — plus two Fridays in August — ths long-running food truck festival is meant as a showcase for some of the D.C. area’s best food trucks. The lineup at the upcoming festival, held at the outdoor venue the Bullpen next to Nationals Park, features food for purchase from trucks including Korean BBQ Taco Box, Superior Eats by Stacey’s Soul Food, Tapas Truck, Lombardo’s Detroit Style Pizza, Reggae Vibes, BBQ Bus, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Tamo Smoothies, Puddin, The Orange Cow, District Jerk, DC Empanadas, Mexicano Square, and FMK Mobile Cuisine. Cold drinks, live music, and games are also on offer at the family friendly outing presented by Georgetown Events. Friday, Aug. 23, from 4 to 10 p.m. 1201 Half St. SE. Visit www.thebullpendc.com/truckeroo.

Fords Theatre History on Foot: Eric Messner — Photo: Gary Erskine

ABOVE AND BEYOND

17TH STREET FESTIVAL

The Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets’ 10th annual event is designed to celebrate the restaurants and gay-friendly businesses in the blocks of what once was the gayest street in the city. (It’s still plenty gay.) For the occasion, organizers close to traffic the 1500-1600 blocks of the street to set up booths for vendors selling handmade goods — from hats to jewelry to cigars to paintings — with additional booths set up for local nonprofits, for-profit start-ups, local businesses, and community groups, plus a kids’ area. Also on tap at the event, held rain or shine, are live acoustic music performances. Saturday, Aug. 24, from noon to 6 p.m. Call 202-656-4487 or visit www.17thStreetFestival.org for more information.

FORD’S THEATRE’S HISTORY ON FOOT

A local actor offers the guided tour Investigation: Detective McDevitt, portraying Detective James McDevitt, a D.C. police officer patrolling a half-block from Ford’s Theatre the night President Lincoln was shot. Written by Richard Hellesen and directed by Mark Ramont, the 1.6-mile walking tour revisits and reexamines the sites and clues from the investigation into the assassination. Tours are offered approximately three evenings a week at 6:45 p.m. Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $17. Call 202-397-7328 or visit www.fords.org.